The present invention is directed to personal thermal regulation systems, and more particularly, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to integrated thermal regulation systems for extra-vehicular activities.
Generally, extra-vehicular activity (“EVA”) in autonomous spacesuits has relied on evaporating water as an expendable heat sink in order to achieve thermal regulation. However, open-loop water-evaporation results in water being a limiting consumable during the EVA duration and a significant design driver for spacesuit systems. Water is also a significant mission launch mass penalty when EVA is frequent. Radiation has also been recognized as an attractive alternative to water-evaporation for heat regulation, but it has not been successfully implemented in a spacesuit system. Radiation is limited by the limited practical and available radiating surface area in a spacesuit system, source temperature (i.e., essentially human skin temperature), and radiation sink temperatures which have provided less than required heat regulation capacity during a large percentage of EVA scenarios.